Florida Fuel Tax Bond
Not every Florida fuel license carries a bond. The Department of Revenue's own bond worksheet splits twelve fuel and pollutants classifications into two groups — terminal supplier, wholesaler, exporter, importer, and pollutants licenses are bonded; blender, terminal operator, and petroleum carrier are not. And of the ones that are, most run on three times average monthly tax capped at $300,000 — except the importer's supplement, which runs on a 60-day clock with no cap at all.
- Who requires it: Florida Department of Revenue, Fla. Stat. §206.05 (motor fuel) and §206.90 (diesel).
- Amount: For most bonded license types, three times average monthly tax capped at $300,000; the importer’s supplement runs on a 60-day clock with no cap.
- Timing: Same-day submission; most quotes within one business day.
First: does your Florida fuel license need a bond at all?
“Florida fuel tax bond” searches assume every fuel license is bonded. It isn't. The Department of Revenue's Fuel and Pollutant Bond Requirements table — published with the Bond Worksheet Instructions (Form DR-157W) — lists twelve license classifications, and only about half of them carry a bond requirement. Find your classification before you shop for a bond you might not owe:
Florida DOR fuel & pollutants license bond matrix
Which classifications are bonded, and which formula applies
| License classification | Bond required? | How it’s sized | Statute / rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal Supplier | Yes | Table A1 — 3× avg. monthly tax, $300K cap | F.S. §206.05 / §206.90 |
| Wholesaler (EFT authority) | Yes | Table A1 — 3× avg. monthly tax, $300K cap | F.S. §206.05 / §206.90 |
| Wholesaler (no EFT authority) | Yes | Table A2 — 3× avg. monthly local-option tax, $300K cap | F.S. §206.05 |
| Importer (Table B supplement) | Yes | 60 days of avg. daily import tax — no cap | F.S. §206.051(1); DR-157W Table B |
| Exporter | Yes | Table A1 — 3× avg. monthly tax on export gallons, $300K cap | F.S. §206.05(1); §206.052 license |
| Pollutants | Yes | Table C — 3× avg. monthly pollutants tax, $300K cap | DR-157W Table C |
| Bio-diesel Manufacturer | Yes | Set per DOR bond worksheet | DR-157W |
| Retailer of Natural Gas Fuel | Yes — starting 1/1/2030 | Not yet in effect | DR-157W (future effective date) |
| Blender | No | Background investigation only | DR-157W |
| Terminal Operator | No | Background investigation only | DR-157W |
| Petroleum Carrier (private/common) | No | Background investigation only | DR-157W |
| Mass Transit / Municipality / County / School District | No | Statutorily exempt | F.S. §206.05(1); DR-157W |
Source: Florida DOR Bond Worksheet Instructions, Form DR-157W (Rule 12B-5.150, F.A.C.), and Fla. Stat. §§206.05, 206.90. Amounts computed per-product-type; a licensee holding more than one classification files a bond for each bonded class it operates under.
A single business often holds more than one classification — a terminal supplier that also exports files under both rows, each with its own bond. Once you know which rows apply to you, the next question is which of the two very different formulas below computes your amount.
What Florida law actually requires
The core bond requirement sits in two parallel statutes — one for gasoline and other motor fuel, one for diesel — and both cap the bond DOR can demand at the same figure.
Official Florida Requirements
"Each terminal supplier, importer, exporter, or wholesaler ... shall file with the department a bond in a penal sum of not more than $300,000, such sum to be approximately 3 times the combined average monthly tax levied under this part and local option tax on motor fuel paid or due during the preceding 12 calendar months."Florida Department of Revenue • Fla. Stat. §206.05 (motor fuel); parallel diesel provision at §206.90
Section 206.90 mirrors §206.05 almost word for word for diesel fuel — the same $300,000 cap, the same “approximately 3 times” average-monthly-tax formula — with one real difference: §206.90 explicitly waives the diesel bond entirely if that 3× figure comes out under $50. §206.05 has no equivalent de minimis line for gasoline. Both sections exempt municipalities, counties, school boards, state agencies, federal agencies, and special districts from the bond requirement entirely. Exporters are licensed under §206.052, and their bond figure is set by §206.051(3) at the same §206.05/§206.90 cap; importers are licensed under §206.051, whose subsection (1) sets their own 60-day supplemental bond independent of §206.05's cap.
Two formulas, two clocks — and only one has a ceiling
Most bonded classifications use the standard Table A1/A2 math. Importers are the exception, and missing that distinction is the single most common way businesses under-file their Florida bond package.
The standard formula — terminal supplier, wholesaler, exporter
Table A1 / A2: DOR's standard fuel tax bond
Fla. Stat. §206.05 (motor fuel) / §206.90 (diesel). Computed on DOR Bond Worksheet Form DR-157W, Tables A1 and A2 (Rule 12B-5.150, F.A.C.). §206.90 waives the diesel bond entirely if 3× average monthly tax is under $50; §206.05 has no equivalent floor for motor fuel.
The importer exception — Table B supplemental bond
Table B: the importer's supplemental bond has no ceiling
DR-157W, Table B (Rule 12B-5.150, F.A.C.), applying Fla. Stat. §206.051(1)'s 60-day credit-worthiness bond for importers. Filed in addition to — not instead of — a wholesaler's or terminal supplier's standard §206.05 Table A1/A2 bond when the license includes import activity.
A high-volume importer can end up with a Table B figure well above $300,000, because nothing in the importer formula caps it — the $300,000 ceiling only applies to the Table A1/A2 bond. If your license includes import activity, budget for both numbers, not just the one that looks familiar from a generic fuel-bond page.
Haul fuel for a living? DOR doesn't bond that license.
Petroleum carriers — railroads, pipeline companies, water transportation companies, and any private or common carrier hauling motor or diesel fuel to or from Florida — still register with DOR and still undergo the FDLE/FBI background investigation. What they don't do is post a fuel tax bond. Neither do blenders or terminal operators. All three sit on the “no” side of the bond requirement table, alongside mass transit providers and government users of diesel fuel.
Petroleum Carrier
Private or common — no bond, background check only.
Blender
Licensed to blend motor or diesel fuel — no bond.
Terminal Operator
Owns/controls a terminal — no bond.
If you also broker interstate freight loads rather than just hauling your own fuel, that's a separate federal requirement entirely — see the Florida freight broker BMC-84 bond guide, which runs on its own $75,000 federal penal sum unrelated to anything on this page.
What a Florida fuel tax bond claim actually covers
For the classifications that are bonded, the bond secures Florida's fuel tax revenue — not your business. DOR doesn't need to prove intent to draw against it, only an unpaid balance:
Fuel tax collected but never remitted
Motor and diesel fuel tax is trust money the moment you collect it at the rack or pump. When a monthly return comes in short — or doesn’t come in at all — DOR assesses the shortfall and can draw against the bond up to its full penal sum, no fraud finding required.
Deficiencies from a DOR fuel tax audit
DOR cross-matches terminal rack reports, IRS 4101 registrations, and licensee filings. An audit that turns up unreported gallons — plus the resulting penalties and interest — is collectible against the bond exactly like an unpaid return.
Penalties and interest on chronically late filings
The bond answers for the full liability, not just base tax. A pattern of late monthly returns can build a claimable balance in penalties and interest even after the underlying tax eventually clears — and it’s the fastest way to draw DOR’s attention at renewal.
Liability left behind after a license lapses or closes
Continuing to move taxable fuel after a license lapses, or leaving tax unpaid when a business closes, doesn’t erase the exposure — DOR can still pursue the bond that was in force while the liability accrued.
A paid claim reroutes your tax debt to your surety's indemnity agreement — it does not erase it. You still owe the dollars, now to a carrier far less willing to write your next bond. See our guide on how to avoid a surety bond claim for the habits that keep a fuel license bondable.
Filing your Florida fuel bond package with DOR
Pin down every classification you hold
Terminal supplier, wholesaler, wholesaler/importer, exporter, pollutants — each bonded classification gets its own line on the DR-157W worksheet and its own bond.
Run the DR-157W Bond Worksheet
Estimate your average monthly (or, for importers, average daily) gallons by fuel type, apply the current DOR tax rate, and multiply by 3 months or 60 days depending on the table.
Choose your security instrument
A Fuel or Pollutants Tax Surety Bond (Form DR-157), an Assignment of Time Deposit (DR-157A), a Cash Bond (DR-157B), or an irrevocable letter of credit all satisfy the requirement.
Submit DR-156 with the worksheet and bond attached
File the Florida Fuel or Pollutants Tax Application (Form DR-156) together with the completed DR-157W and executed bond — by email to motor_fuel@floridarevenue.com or by mail to the Account Management Fuel Unit.
Renew annually and watch for re-rates
Your Fuel/Pollutants License (Form DR-114) runs January 1 to December 31 and must be renewed every year; DOR can require additional bonding mid-term if it finds the existing bond insufficient.
Know your classification and roughly what you'll gallon out? Send it over and we'll turn it into a filed DR-157.
Start my Florida fuel bondComing in 2030: natural gas fuel retailers join the bonded list
DOR's current bond requirement table carries one classification with a bond requirement that isn't active yet. Retailers of natural gas fuel — businesses selling or supplying CNG, LPG, or LNG at retail for use in a motor vehicle — are marked “yes” for bond required, flagged not effective until January 1, 2030. Today, that license type undergoes the background investigation but files no bond.
If natural gas fuel retail is part of your business, this is the kind of change worth tracking a few years out — not something to discover the week a renewal notice arrives.
Related Florida and tax bonds
Florida fuel businesses frequently hold more than one of these:
Not sure how the penal sum translates to premium? See what determines your surety bond cost before you apply, or start with our bond cost calculator.
Florida fuel tax bond questions, answered
Does every Florida fuel license need a bond?
No. The Department of Revenue’s own Bond Worksheet Instructions (Form DR-157W, Rule 12B-5.150, F.A.C.) split fuel and pollutants licenses into bonded and unbonded classes. Terminal supplier, wholesaler, wholesaler/importer, exporter, bio-diesel manufacturer, and pollutants licenses all carry a bond requirement. Blender, terminal operator, mass transit system provider, and petroleum carrier (private or common) do not — zero bond requirement listed for any of them — even though every classification still goes through the same FDLE and FBI background investigation. Know which bucket your license falls into before you budget for a bond you may not need.
Why is my importer bond calculated differently from a terminal supplier’s?
Terminal suppliers, wholesalers, and exporters size their bond off Table A1 or A2 of the DOR worksheet: roughly three times average monthly tax under Fla. Stat. §206.05 (motor fuel) or §206.90 (diesel), capped at $300,000. An importer’s supplemental bond runs on a completely different clock, set by a different statute entirely — Fla. Stat. §206.051(1) requires a bond equal to 60 days of estimated average daily import tax to establish credit-worthiness, and the DR-157W worksheet confirms there is no $300,000 cap on that figure. A wholesaler who also imports fuel files both: the standard §206.05 Table A1/A2 bond plus the §206.051(1) Table B importer supplement on top of it.
My estimated fuel tax is small — do I still need to post a bond?
Possibly not — but only on the diesel side. Fla. Stat. §206.90 says directly that if three times your average monthly diesel tax liability comes out under $50, no bond is required for diesel. The parallel gasoline statute, §206.05, doesn’t carry that same de minimis language — its bond requirement doesn’t taper off at a small dollar figure the way diesel’s does. Very few terminal suppliers or wholesalers move little enough diesel volume to clear the $50 threshold, but a small specialty-fuel handler with genuinely minimal gallons can. Run the DR-157W worksheet by fuel type before assuming either side is exempt.
Do I need separate bonds for gasoline and diesel?
Yes. Florida bonds motor (gasoline) fuel under Fla. Stat. §206.05 and diesel fuel under the parallel §206.90 — two statutes, two independent penal sums, and two separate rows (Motor Fuel and Diesel Fuel) on the DR-157W bond worksheet. A terminal supplier or wholesaler moving both fuels computes and files two bonds, each capped independently at $300,000, not one combined figure.
I drive a fuel tanker for hire — do I need a Florida fuel tax bond?
No. Florida licenses petroleum carriers — private or common carriers hauling motor or diesel fuel, casinghead gasoline, natural gasoline, naphtha, or distillate — as their own classification, and DOR’s bond requirement table marks Petroleum Carrier bond requirement as no. Carriers go through the same FDLE/FBI background check as the bonded classifications but don’t post a fuel tax bond. That’s a separate question from a federal BMC-84 freight broker bond; if you also broker interstate loads, see our Florida freight broker bond guide for that $75,000 federal requirement.
Is Florida really about to require a bond for natural gas fuel retailers?
Yes, but not yet. DOR’s current bond requirement table lists Retailer of Natural Gas Fuel with a bond requirement of “yes,” flagged as not effective until January 1, 2030. It’s the one classification on the table with a future-dated start rather than an immediate one. If you sell or supply CNG, LPG, or LNG at retail for use in motor vehicles today, that’s worth planning for well before 2030 rather than after DOR sends the notice.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov). BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-listed surety carriers.
General information, not legal, tax, or underwriting advice. Florida fuel and pollutants license classifications, bond requirements, formulas, and forms are set by the Florida Department of Revenue and the Florida Statutes and can change — the natural gas fuel retailer requirement described above, for example, does not take effect until January 1, 2030. Confirm your current classification and exact bond figure with DOR using Form DR-157W, and request a quote for your specific bond.
Tell us your classification — we'll tell you if you even need a bond
Terminal supplier, wholesaler, importer, exporter, or pollutants — we'll size every bond your Florida fuel license package actually requires, run both the Table A and Table B math where it applies, and file your DR-157 with DOR. Free quote, no obligation.
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